Tag: Asian

A Delhi based green NGO, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has recently urged the government to focus on more effective measures for combating the largely spread Dengue, as the current measures of Fogging have been ineffective.

According to the NGO, the Anti-Dengue Fogging drives are nothing but a false sense of security among the public, a measure that is used by the Government’s for appeasement by wasting lakhs of litres of Diesel every year. CSE urged the government to focus on systematic preventive measures towards clean environment and sanitation. Its assessment said that 4.5 lakh litre of diesel could be used this year for fogging, which comes to 4,500 litres of diesel per day and is also equivalent to the usage of diesel by 2,000 cars in a day. CSE said that targeting adult mosquitoes offers temporary control and that too in limited settings and under ideal conditions and unless repeated frequently, fogging cannot control the next batch of adults out of the larvae. Thus, a source control is a must, using larvacides, to destroy the larva, and effectively prevent public from Dengue. The WHO guidelines on dengue too “questions” the role of fogging and recognises that fogging has been used by South-East Asian countries for the past 25 years but has not been effective.

“Medical experts suggest that direct inhalation of diesel fumes, combined with insecticides, can exacerbate asthma or bronchitis among those with respiratory ailments.

“Pregnant women, small children and old people are most susceptible to aggravation. Eye specialists also mention that diesel fumes can also cause irritation and itching on skin and eyes. Prolonged exposure could lead to temporary swelling of the corneas,” CSE said.